The present invention relates, in general, to screen and storm doors and to their manufacture and installation. The present invention relates generally to the use of plastics, particularly vinyl, as a replacement for wood or metal based products and, more particularly, the present invention relates to reinforced vinyl for these doors.
Screen and storm doors have been generally made of wood or metal such as aluminum or steel. Wood has some inherent drawbacks. It must be painted or coated to protect it from the elements. If made of less expensive wood, such as pine, it may split or warp. If the door is made of aluminum, steel or any of the more expensive wood materials the door can become quite expensive.
Polyvinyl chloride has been used in the past to replace wood in siding, shutters and parts of windows and now polyvinyl chloride is very commonly used for these applications. Windows and shutters, whether vinyl or wood, are made to specific measurements rather than custom fitted at the job site. These items are generally hollow to save material and decrease weight. For added strength, ribs or other interior structures are added as needed to increase the strength of these products.
Screen doors cannot be made of the same materials as vinyl shutters and windows. The door needs to fit closely in a door frame that may or may not be rectangular or xe2x80x9cplumbxe2x80x9d but may be narrower at the top or bottom. Screen doors made of wood can be cut at the job site. Hollow vinyl doors on the other hand, especially one with reinforcing bars, cannot be trimmed at the job site without the risk of cutting through the wall without jeopardizing the structural integrity and appearance of the door.
Thus, there remained a need for a screen door that did not have the disadvantages of either aluminum or wood and that could be custom fitted at the job site.
As taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,040, which is incorporated herein by reference thereto, a screen door is made wherein the frame is formed of foamed, closed cell polyvinyl chloride instead of wood or other materials. The stiles and rails of this invention are formed of substantially solid, extruded vinyl rather than hollow core vinyl and are fastened together with screws and dowels and adhesive to form a rectangular frame with an opening defined between the stiles and rails for the screen. A groove is milled into the frame around the screen opening for receiving the screen and spline that holds it in place.
This door can be taken to the job site and the edges cut and trimmed using standard woodworking tools to fit the door to a particular door frame. The use of the solid, foamed polyvinyl chloride permits the edges of the door frame to be trimmed, removing even more than an inch from each edge. Thus, it is possible to fit the door to a particular door frame. Furthermore the solid material does not split, as wood does, allowing the stiles and rails to be fastened by screws that can bite into the material and the material closes around them for a superior joint.
The use of the solid foamed vinyl, although presenting many desirable qualities, is still subjected to the variances in temperature which may cause the stiles or rails to warp if the temperature is hot and further may become brittle when the temperature becomes cold.
Thus, the present invention provides in combination with a door which includes two spaced apart solid plastic stiles and at least two spaced apart solid plastic rails and in which the two solid plastic stiles and the at least two solid plastic rails are connected together to form a rectangle having an opening defined by the distances between an inner edge of the solid plastic rails and the solid plastic stiles. At least one of a screen and a glass are dimensioned to at least cover the opening. There is a means for fastening the at least one of the screen and glass in a position to at least cover the opening.
The improvement comprises at least one of the two solid plastic stiles having a lengthwise void formed at a predetermined location therein. A non-plastic reinforcing member is fitted in the lengthwise void.
In an alternate embodiment of the invention there is provided in combination with a door which includes two spaced apart solid plastic stiles and at least two spaced apart solid plastic rails and in which the two solid plastic stiles and the at least two solid plastic rails are connected together to form a rectangle having an opening defined by the distances between an inner edge of the solid plastic rails and the solid plastic stiles. At least one of a screen and a glass are dimensioned to at least cover the opening. There is a means for fastening the at least one of the screen and glass in a position to at least cover the opening.
The improvement comprises at least one of the at least two solid plastic rails having a lengthwise void formed at a predetermined location therein and a non-plastic reinforcing member fitted in such lengthwise void.
In yet another alternate embodiment of the invention there is provided a process for producing a door. The process comprises the steps of first extruding two stiles of solid foam filled plastic and extruding at least two rails of solid foam filled plastic. Another step is forming a lengthwise void in at least one of at least one of the two stiles and at least one of at least two rails that were formed in the previous steps.
Another step is fitting the void that was formed in at least one of the two stiles and/or at least one of the two rails with a non-plastic reinforcing member. Another step involves forming a rectangular frame of the two stiles and at least two rails, such rectangular frame having an opening defined by the distances between an inner edge of the rails and the stiles.
The process further includes the steps of providing at least one of a screen and a glass that are dimensioned to at least cover the opening and also providing a means for fastening the at least one of such screen and such glass in a position to at least cover the opening.
It is, therefore, one of the primary object of the present invention to provide a door in which there is a lengthwise void in one of the stiles or rails and in which such void is fitted with a non-plastic reinforcing member.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a door in which aluminum is used as the reinforcing member.
It is yet another object of the present invention to extrude the aluminum reinforcing member along with the solid plastic.
Still another object of the present invention is to form and fit the void such that it is offset so that hinges or other mounting hardware is engageable with the non-plastic reinforcing member that is disposed in the void.
These and various other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent after a full reading of the following detailed description, particularly, when read in conjunction with the attached drawings as described below and the appended claims.